Minerva managed to beat the host team 1-0 as William scored the only goal of the match to continue Minerva Punjab FC’s fairytale run in the ongoing league. Minerva’s first goal attempt came in the 5th minute with Opoku getting past Lajong’s defence; however, his shot was wide and missed the goal.

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Lajong had a good chance to score in the 21st minute, however, Deory’s deflected shot was saved by Minerva goalkeeper RakshitDagar as a result of Al-Hagri failing to send the ball into the net. Lajong midfielder Redeem Tlang went on to replace Al-Hagri in the 28th minute which marked Lajong’s first substitution.

The game was turning into a fast-paced match with each team desperately fighting for an advantage.The first blow to Lajong came in the 32nd minute when midfielder Daniel Odafin was given a yellow card. Minerva created another chance to score in the 40th minute but Opoku’s shot was wide. Lajong replied with an attempt at the Minerva goal which was saved by Dagar in the 43rd minute.

By the end of the first half, both teams had failed to create an advantage in a game that was evenly matched.The start of the second half had Minerva applying the pressure on the home side. The Punjab based team’s offence was up by a notch as they had Lajong on the defensive.

Minerva replaced forward Lago Dogbobei with Girik Mahesh Khosla in the 57th minute. The game changer came in the 57th minute as Minerva took the lead from Opoku’s strike. Chencho ran down the left flank beating NovinGurung by sheer pace and fed Opoku with an assist who in turn sent a magnificent shot into the back of the net.

Leading the game by 1-0, it could be seen that the confidence of the Minerva team was at an all-time high as they momentarily silenced the otherwise strong home crowd.

AIFF Press Release : Chennai City and NEROCA FC played out a goalless stalemate at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Coimbatore on Tuesday (January 9, 2018). Soundararajan opted to leave Chennai City’s leading goalscorer Jean-Micheal Joachim out of the starting lineup. Pradeep Mohanraj took the striker’s place in the starting lineup.

With clear-cut chances hard to come by, Chennai City depended on their ever-present playmaker Soosairaj to unlock the NEROCA defence. A free-kick in the eighth minute, won and taken by him, hit NEROCA’s wall before the rebound was picked up by Edwin Vanspaul who struck a dipping shot just over the bar.

NEROCA failed to get into their rhythm during the first-half with the home side asking all the questions. Soosairaj continued to influence the proceedings as his throw-in at the half-hour mark caused havoc inside the box.

Aryn Williams’ solo foray forward at the hour-mark had Uros Poljanec worried but a loose touch by the midfielder resulted in the ball getting away from him and running out of play.

Charles Anandraj’s cross towards the far post with ten minutes left in the match was challenged by Murilo and Jesuraj and the former headed over from close range in what would be the final major opening before the referee blew his whistle for full-time.

AIFF PRESS RELEASE : Bali Ganadeep’s solitary strike in the 19th minute of the match made the difference between the two teams as Minerva Punjab FC left the EMS Corporation Stadium in Kozhikode with all three points leaving the hosts Gokulam Kerala FC empty-handed today (January 6, 2018).
Odafa Okolie could have made his Hero I-League 2017-18 debut for the Kerala-based side merrier, had he found the back of the net with his first touch in the first minute of the game. After making some positive move earlier in the match, Gokulam Kerala FC slowly slipped into the shell as the visitors started to dominate.

The Bhutanese playmaker Chencho, who’s fondly called as CG7 made the damage work down the left flank and Bali Gagandeep made no mistake tapping his cross home in the 19th minute to open the scoring. After the goal, the Punjab-based side continued to push harder to double the lead but they couldn’t breach the Kerala FC defence anymore until the halfway mark.

Gokulam FC debutant Balwinder couldn’t match up to the pace generated by Chencho in the 33rd minute providing the midfielder with another opportunity to hurl further damage to the hosts but eventually, Daniel Addo averted the danger. Minerva Punjab FC went into the changing room with a slender lead of 1-0 at the half-time.

After the changeover, Bino George introduced the fresh pair of legs of Usman Ashik withdrawing already-booked Kivi and the lanky attacker put in much-needed vigour in the attacking third for the hosts. They earned three consecutive corners after the hour-mark but what they could only make was force Rakshit Dagar to make a fingertip save to keep the scoreline unscathed.

Odafa Okolie showed his sublime touch in the 72nd minute when he unleashed an inch-perfect pass to Usman but before the youngster could make any damage, Dagar threw himself to snatch it from Ashik’s feet.

Chencho once again came very close to scoring but Balwinder intercepted well to avert the danger in the 84th minute. Khogen Singh introduced Lago in their search for their second goal but the Cote D’Ivoire born striker could only ram on to the woodwork two minutes to the final whistle.

AIFF PRESS RELEASE : NEROCA FC registered a 2-1 win over the Indian Arrows to move up to the second place in the Hero I-League standings at the Khuman Lampak Main Stadium on Friday (January 5, 2018).

A first-half brace by Singam Subhash Singh (39′, 45′) helped NEROCA outplay a young Indian Arrows side for the majority of the game. Albeit birthday boy Abhijit Sarkar (89′) scored a late goal to add some suspense towards the climax, it couldn’t deter the Gift Raikhan-coached team from bagging all three points today.

NEROCA’s efforts paid off in the 39th minute. Akhlidin Israilov released a well-weighted through-ball into the path of Singam Subash Singh who chipped Prabshukhan with aplomb.

Subash doubled his tally at the stroke of half-time with another confident finish and this time, it was Felix Chidi who turned provider. Chidi split the Arrows defence and the Manipur-born forward slotted the ball into the net to end the half with a two-goal lead for NEROCA.

Luis Norton de Matos replaced Sanjeev Stalin with Naorem Singh at the break. The change failed to influence proceedings as NEROCA started the second half from where they left off at the break. Subash Singh sliced a cross into the box wide of goal in the 53rd minute as the home side kept trying to add to their goal difference.

Arrows substitute Abhijit Sarkar tapped in Rahul Praveen’s cross to conjure some hope for his side in the dying minutes but it was too late for a magical comeback as NEROCA sealed full points to make it six games without a win in the league.

AIFF PRESS RELEASE : Shillong Lajong FC played out a goalless draw against Chennai City FC in their first Hero I-League match in 2018 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong on Friday (January 5, 2018).

Lajong forward Abdoulaye Koffi attempted a goal early in the 4th minute but only managed to send the ball straight into the arms of Chennai City’s goalkeeper Uros Poljanec. Chennai City replied in the 6th minute with a shot by Pandiyan Srinivasan which was saved easily by Lajong goalkeeper Phurba Tempa.

At the end of the first half, neither of the two teams could open the deadlock but Lajong’s Laurence Doe earned himself a yellow card after a foul on Jean Michael Joachim.

The second half progressed into a fast pace game as both teams were trying desperately to gain the upper hand. Lajong replaced midfielder Redeem Tlang with Samuel Lalmuanpuia. Defender Laurence Doe was replaced by Aiban after the former injured himself following a collision with Chennai forward Murilo.

Chennai City’s best opportunity came in the 71st minute when Joachim nearly scored what would have been a winning goal for the team. However, in the 77th minute, Lajong’s hopes of victory were dashed when a well-timed kick by Alen Deory hit the crossbar.

With 4minutes of extra time added to the end of the second half, it was clear to both teams as well as spectators that the match would end in a draw. With the goalless draw, Lajong leapfrog Mohun Bagan to the fourth spot with 11 points and Chennai City topple Indian Arrows to the eighth spot with as many points.

AIFF PRESS RELEASE : Reigning champions Aizawl FC settled with all three points from Kozhikode, thanks to the own goal scored by Daniel Addo (45′) and a peach of a strike by Andrei Ionescu (52′) to reach the double figures on the points table. On the other hand, Bino George’s boys are still placed in the bottom half of the table with 4 points from 6 matches following their 0-2 loss against Aizawl FC at the EMS Corporation Stadium in Kozhikode today (December 31, 2017).

Lalram Hmunmawia put in a low cross for Kobayashi from the left-flank but eventually Daniel Addo, the Ghanaian defender of Gokulam Kerala FC poked it into the net in the 45th minute to the host team’s dismay.

After the changeover, Aizawl FC took only seven minutes to double the lead from Andrei Ionescu’s brilliant effort. Lalmuankima took on his own to charge a counter-attack from their own half and unleashed a lively pass to the Romanian striker who blasted the back of the net from the top of the box.

Bino George who rued the foreigners’ forms and injury woes yesterday, kept his cards close to his chest towards the last quarter of the game until introducing Francis. He tried his luck from the middle of the pitch in the 82nd minute but Aizawl FC goalkeeper Abilash Paul had absolutely no qualm gloving it.

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AIFF PRESS RELEASE : Reigning champions Aizawl FC have given their supporters a reason to smile now having registered an important win against the table-toppers Minerva Punjab FC at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Aizawl today (December 27, 2017).

Kareem Omolaja (72′) and Andrei Ionescu (85′) scored one goal apiece for Aizawl FC while Girik Khosla (90’+5′) pulled one back for the away side. Meanwhile, it was the first defeat for the Punjab-based side following their 5-match unbeaten run.

The home side made four changes in the starting XI as David Lalrinmuana, Andrei Ionescu, William Lalnunfela and newly recruited Laldinliana started the game in place of Lalrinzuala, K.Lalthathanga, Yugo Kobayashi and Lalbiakthanga.
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David and Ionescu, alongside captain Alfred Jaryan, manned the midfield and William Lalnunfela played the lone striker upfront and Leonce Dodoz and Lalmuankima flanked from opposite sides of the pitch. League leaders Minerva made no changes from their last match.

Paulo Menezes’ boys started the game upbeat as they forced the away team in their own half. David, Ionescu and Alfred dominated the midfield but the Minerva defence was a hard nut to get breached by the Highlanders. David’s freekick from 35 yards was met by Afghan’s defender Saighani but caused no trouble for Minerva goalkeeper Dagar.

Former East Bengal midfielder David’s freekick caused trouble for Minerva’s defender as the ball from David’s freekick found Saighani yet again but the central defenders shot from the 6-yard box was superbly thwarted away by Dagar.

Leonce Dodoz was lively on the right side but could not break down Minerva’s defence as well. The home side dominated the ball possession but could not carve out a clear-cut goal scoring chance. William Opoku tried his best to break down Aizawl’s defence but without the usual support from Chencho, his effort went into vain.

Saighani tapped the first goal of the match in the 21st minute but it was ruled out by the official owing to a foul on a Minerva defender much to the dismay of the loud Aizawl supporters. Opoku’s shot drifted away from goal and Aidara header form Chencho’s freekick flew a few foot away from Aizawl’s goalkeeper Avilash Pual’s goal. Both the teams were scoreless in the first 45 minutes.

Sukhdev Singh tried his best from his long throws but those were perfectly dealt by Aizawl defenders. Aizawl continued to dominate the game and scored the first goal of the game in the 72 minute. The ball from David’s corner was guided to the far post of Minerva’s goal by defender Kareem Omolaja to leave goalkeeper Dagar completely stranded.

Minerva pulled one back in the added time as Girik Khosla made the best out of the defensive lapses of Aizawl FC defenders but there was no time left for away side to equalise as the referee blew the whistle seconds after Khosla’s goal.

AIFF PRESS RELEASE : Indian Arrows notched their second win of the Hero I-League campaign as the young colts defeated ten-man Shillong Lajong 3-0 at the Ambedkar Stadium in the capital today (December 26, 2017).

Jitendra Singh’s 19th minute goal, Nongdamba Naorem’s 86th minute strike and a Rahul K.P goal in the dying embers (90+1’) proved to be the difference between the two sides in a match largely dominated by the Indian Arrows, where Lajong had been reduced to ten men in the 60th minute after Lalrohlua was sent off.

Little did the festive season affect the Arrows and brushing aside the rust from their last 0-2 defeat against Gokulam Kerala FC, a robust Arrows took to the field and attacked from the whistle. Jeakson, Amarjit and Suresh Singh’s trio in the midfield proved too hot to handle for the Lajong defence line and the trio regularly slipped passes into the final third.

In the 7th minute, Jeakson Singh’s through ball left the Lajong defenders in disarray and was latched onto by Abhijit Sarkar. Sarkar crossed from the flanks but his cross went amiss of the target. The Indian Arrows continued to dominate possession and glitzy football in the final third with fluid passing hampered Lajong’s defence, but not enough, as the Colts still had nothing to show for their endeavours.

It changed in the 19th minute when defender Jitendra Singh burst onto the scene from a throw-in and netted the ball home to give the Indian colts a solitary goal lead. With the lead, the Arrows looked comfortable with the ball and seldom lost control of possession or their tempo on the match. Dheeraj Singh made his first save of the match way into the dying embers of the first half when he kept out a header. The half-time scoreline read 1-0 in favour of the Indian Arrows.

In the second half, Shillong Lajong spent no time in formalities and searched for the equalizer from the start. A Daniel Odafin shot in the 46th minute itself flew inches over the Arrows bar as Bobby Nongbet’s team made clear their intent to attack.

Lajong although hovered around the Indian Arrows penalty box, did little to pierce as the Indian defence held strong and usually thwarted Lajong attacks with ease. Counter-attacking, in the 57th minute, Ninthoi’s shot from distance came close to doubling the Indian Arrows lead as the colts searched for some breathing space from relentless Lajong pressure.

In the 60th minute, Lajong were reduced to ten-men after Lalrohlua was given his marching order by the referee for a rash tackle on Ninthoi. The task became more uphill for Lajong who not only trailed by a goal but were even playing with a man down.

Indian Arrows made their first substitution of the match as Abhishek Halder replaced Jeakson Singh in the midfield in the 70th minute. In the 73rd minute, the Indian Arrows, trying to take advantage of the reduced number of Lajong men stepped up the ante to double their lead as Rahim Ali’s shot from distance went inches over the bar.

Nongdamba Naorem came on for Abhijit Sarkar in the 76th minute as Indian Arrows made a defensive change to keep Lajong at bay. However a minute later, Lajong almost pulled an equalizer when Khongsit’s lob threatened to go inside the Arrow’s net but failed by few inches.

In the 86th minute, substitute Nongdamba Naorem put the tie to bed as he waltzed past the Lajong defence with ease and slotted the ball home to double Indian Arrow’s lead over the visiting team. Rahul K.P tripled the lead in the dying embers of the match as his shot from distance went straight into the goal to make it 3-0.

The Indian Arrows held their fort and kept Lajong at bay as the full-time scoreline read 3-0 in their favour.

AIFF PRESS RELEASE : What could be termed as the battle-of-nerves between two Northeastern young coaches, finally saw Gift Raikhan, the Manipuri one edging past his counterpart in the second Northeastern Derby of the Hero I-League 2017-18 season, thanks to the solitary strike by Singham Subash Singh seven minutes to the end of the regulation time.

The first half of the game was filled with a lot of action. Lajong, as well as NEROCA FC, played some offensive football in their pursuit of the opening goal. Despite the fact that this is not their home turf, NEROCA played with utmost confidence and were as comfortable in their offence as was Lajong.

Lajong, on the other hand, seemed really desperate to score a goal and secure their position in the game. There was a brilliant attempt taken by Aimen Saleh Abdullah AL-Hagri of Lajong but it could not draw any result for the Reds. Towards the middle of the first half, Lajong looked in a bit of trouble when NEROCA started dominating the game for a short while but then the strong Lajong defence held them at bay.

There were no substitutions in the first half for any of the two teams but there was a yellow card shown to Juho Ho (21) of Lajong in the 40th minute. Both the teams headed towards the dressing room without any difference between them. After the resumption, Nedo Turkovic made his debut for the Manipuri outfit, having replaced Israilov Akhlidin. Ex-Mariner Singam Subhash Singh of NEROCA FC came very close to breaching the Lajong defence but eventually, it was averted by the gritty Lajong defence.

Meanwhile, Gift Raikhan had to introduce Thokchom Naoba Singh in the 79th minute to replace Govind Singh Moirangthem who was hurt badly. Four Minutes later, Singam Subash Singh of NEROCA headed a brilliant cross from Pritam Singh home to leave Lajong Goalie completely stranded. The poacher was left completely unmarked by the Lajong defenders and the Neroca FC striker encashed on that exquisitely to muster all three points from Shillong.

Following the win, Neroca FC leapfrog Lajong to the third spot of the league table with 10 points from 5 matches whereas the Meghalaya-based side have bagged equal points having played one match extra. Lajong will now travel to New Delhi to take on young Arrows on the only Boxing Day fixture of the season whereas Neroca FC will host red-hot Kingfisher East Bengal on December 30, 2017.

AIFF PRESS RELEASE : Gokulam Kerala FC posted their first win of the 11th Hero I-League, getting the better of Indian Arrows 2-0 in New Delhi’s Ambedkar Stadium. Ghanian Daniel Addo (11th minute) and Syrian Khaled Alsaleh (64th minute) scored for the visitors as a now trademark spirited performance for the Arrows youngsters yet again failed to deliver a point for them.

In the first half, Gokulam Kerala FC were the more attacking and even looked the side more in control of the game even though possession was split equally. The initial enterprise was shown by the Indian Arrows. In the 8th minute, the self-driven and pacy Aniket Jadhav first cut in from the left to play the ball to Abhishek Halder near the top of the box, but his feeble left footer lacked direction. A minute later, he again broke through from the left beating Provat Lakra for pace but could not get the critical pass in.

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Then almost against the run of play, Kerala’s Ghanian centre-back, Daniel Addo jumped high above everyone, off a Rohit Mirza corner from the left flank in the 11th minute, to drill a header into the Arrows net. The Arrows defence could certainly have been more alert and proactive in marking Addo. The Arrows were clearly rattled and frustrated by the goal as Aniket Jadhav earned the game’s first yellow card in the 30th minute for his incessant aggression.

In the 35th minute, Gokulam’s Syrian recruit Khaled Alsaleh put Rohit Mirza, who had a fantastic game incidentally, through on the right. His attempt to break in was thwarted illegally by Anwar Ali, just outside the box. Khaled fired in a left-footer, but it rebounded off the goalline milee.

Then in the 37th minute, Abhishek Halder lost the ball inside his own half and Usman Ashik broke free into the Arrows box from the left. His diagonal left-footer beat Dheeraj but rolled past the far post. Just at the stroke of the lemon-break, Gokulam got another chance when a lovely through ball from Usman found Rohit clear in the box with just the goalkeeper to beat. But Dheeraj, rushed out to clear just in time.

The Arrows began the second half with a lot more intent. Three corners and a couple of set pieces in advantageous positions being the result. In the 58th minute, from one of those free-kicks from about 30-yards away, Sanjeev Stalin curled a vicious right-footer which beat the Gokulam keeper Bilal all ends up but struck the upright, in what turned out to be the Arrows best chance of the game.

Stalin’s overenthusiasm post the free-kick though cost his team a second goal. He picked up a needless yellow card on the right flank with a reckless tackle on Santu Singh. From the resultant free-kick, Alsaleh curled a looping left-footer, which beat everyone including Dheeraj in goal, to double Gokulam’s lead in the 64th minute.

As Arrows, stung by the reverse, tried their best to come back into the game, Usman was replaced by Syed Shoaib Ahmed in the 75th minute by Gokulam coach Bino George to ensure more muscle in the defensive midfield.

The Arrows coach Matos, made his last throw of the dice with a double substitution in the 86th and 87th minute. Abhijit Sarkar came in for Jadhav and Boris Thanjam was replaced by K. Meetei. But in spite of the fact that most of the play was happening in the Gokulam half, the spirited Arrows side could not find a consolation goal. Daniel Addo was adjudged the Hero of the Match for his overall robust performance in defence as well as for scoring the first goal to break the deadlock.

Midfield spearhead Jaekson Singh made a comeback into the starting eleven and so did Aniket Jadhav, the striker who struck twice in the Arrows opening game win against Chennai City FC. Gokulam started with Usman Ashik, who had given a good account of himself coming on as a substitute for the Kerala side’s previous outing. Also starting for them was Rohit Mirza. Gokulam captain and leader Sushant Mathew was missed in this game due to injury.

This was Gokulam Kerala FC’s second away match while it was the first time that the Indian Arrows played in Delhi in the 11th Hero I-League, which was touted as their home base before the start of the league. Gokulam move from ninth to the seventh position on the points table with this win while the Arrows move down a position to ninth place.

AIFF PRESS RELEASE : Churchill Brothers suffered their fifth straight defeat of the ongoing Hero I-League season as they went down 2-0 against Chennai City FC in their I-League match at the Tilak Maidan Vasco on Tuesday.
Goals from Jean Michael Joachim (45’+1′) and Murilo Ribeiro Almeida (52′) helped Chennai City FC register their first win of the season and outplay the Red Machines in their first home match.

Chennai City deservingly broke the deadlock in additional time of first half when striker Joachim shrugged off Israil Gurung down the left channel and slide the ball past an onrushing Kithan from a tight angle. The striker took his tally to four goals for the season as the visitors went into half-time leading 1-0.
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Kithan could only look on as Chennai City led 2-0 in the 52nd minute. Joachim had another chance when he had a free-header thanks to an inch-perfect cross from Romario but the striker could not put his head to it.

Churchill Brothers suffered another setback when they were down to 10-men when youngster Banpynkhrawnam Nongkhlaw picked up a second yellow card after a clumsy foul on Murilo in the 66th minute when there was no real danger when the duo came together near the sideline.

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AIFF PRESS RELEASE : Minerva Punjab continued their winning run in I-League after sneaking past Indian Arrows with a 1-0 victory. The match, which looked like a certain draw at one stage saw the Bhutan international Chencho take the match away in the dying moments from the valiant Indian Arrows with a brilliant solo effort.

Home side Minerva Punjab made two changes from their game against Chennai City FC with Souvik Das and Lago Bei making way for Amandeep Singh and centre back Sukhdev Singh. Indian Arrows made two changes in their squad from the last game as Aniket Jadhav who scored 2 goals in the opening game against Chennai City and central midfielder Abhijit Sarkar made way for attacking minded Rahim Ali and newcomer Abhishek Halder respectively.

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Minerva Punjab completely outplayed Indian Arrows in the first half of play. Captain Kassim Aidara had an early opportunity in the 3rd minute to get his name on the scoresheet but his effort from 4 yards went wide off the target. On the 15th minute mark, William’s powerful volley was somehow blocked by Indian Arrows defence line and almost looked like the action replay of his previous goal against Indian Arrows in Goa. Dano tried his luck with a superb volley in front of the goal but again Indian Arrows defender stood firm to block the shot.

The best chance of the first half fell to Dano in the 35th minute when he hit the post from a picture-perfect diving volley. Meanwhile, Arrows Goalkeeper Dheeraj made two superb back to back saves in the 42nd minute to keep his team in the match.
Indian Arrows somehow managed to keep the scoreline 0-0 at halftime. The 2nd half was more even with Indian Arrows players started to get into the rhythm of the game. They had more of the ball but still couldn’t penetrate the strong Minerva Punjab defence.

Indian Arrows had the chance of the match in the 53rd minute when Rahul came running down from the right wing going one on one with Minerva Goalkeeper Rakshit who came out of his line and managed to put the ball out of danger with a heroic clearance.

Minerva Punjab, on the other hand, capitalized their chance in the 80th minute when Chencho scored after sending two defenders wrong way inside their own box and hitting a powerful low drive into the right corner of the net giving no chance to Dheeraj. Minerva Punjab held up the game well since then and gave no chance to Indian Arrows to come back in the game.

The people of Aizawl City will once again rally towards the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium to cheer their home team as they prepare to face neighbours Shillong Lajong today at 2 pm.

Aizawl’s unbeaten run in the league came to an end as they lost 0-1 to their Northeast counterpart Shillong Lajong in the first Northeast Derby of the season. In a hard-fought encounter in Aizawl, Lajong’s winger Redeem Tlang scored the only goal in the 60 minute of the game.

The win gives Shillong Lajong FC the much needed three points and with this win, they move to the second position in the league table equal on points with leaders Minerva Punjab FC but have played one game more than the league leaders. Kobayashi was alone in the box with no pressure from the Lajong boys but still couldn’t find the back of the net.

After an array of chances in the first 45 minutes, the score stood at 0-0 at the end of the first half.

Both teams started the second half brightly but it was the away team who scored the first goal of the match. Al Hagri’s shot inside the box was blocked by the Aizawl’s boys but the ball fell to Khasi winger Redeem Tlang, who calmly curled the ball towards the far side of the net and scored his second league goal of the season. Tlang again got a chance but the winger’s effort was heroically palmed away by the Aizawl FC goalkeeper.

Menezes introduced Romanian attacker Andrei Ionescu at 67 minutes but the substitution was in vain as Andrei had little effect on the game. H.Lalmuankima penalty appeal was not given by referee Om Prakash Thakur and a few moments later Kobayshi’s shot flew just over the crossbar.

AIFF PRESS RELEASE : Neroca FC kickstarted their home campaign with a thrilling victory over Chennai City FC in what is to be dubbed as a perfect team effort. Lalit Thapa’s heroics under the woodwork, Varney Kallon’s opener in the 26th minute and Ngangom Ronald Singh’s 90th-minute winner perfectly summed up the Manipuri outfit’s performance today to outsmart Chennai City FC at the Khuman Lampak Stadium in Manipur, to add another feather to the Northeastern state’s hat.

Although the visitors pulled one back in the second half, they could not deter the hosts from bagging all three points towards the end when Ronald Singh tapped it home to send the 27 thousand strong crowd into a delirium.

The visitors got a realistic chance to go one step up in the 17th minute when they were awarded a penalty. But, Neroca FC’s goalkeeper Lalit Thapa jumped to his right to thwart Murilo Almeida’s effort.

In the 16th minute when Chennai City FC’s striker Murilo Ribeiro De tried to snatch the ball coming towards the D-box, Neroca FC’s lanky Defender Govind pulled his jersey, having handed a spot-kick to the visitors. But the resultant spot-kick could not garner any result for the Southern outfit.

Neroca FC started to execute mostly from the left flank of the field with Neroca FC’s Striker Subash Singh keeping the Chennai City FC defenders on their toes throughout. In the 24th minute, Neroca FC netted its first goal by Varney Kallon and led his team to a slim 1-0 lead until the half-time.

In the second half, Chennai City FC’s Charles Anandraj was replaced by Mashoor Shereef and made a strong attack on Neroca FC. Chennai City FC changed the gear and started pushing harder for the elusive equaliser with the team captain Soosai Raj who took a major role in the midfield.

Jean Micheal Joachim, the deadly Chennai City FC striker once again found the target for the southern side, having cancelled the host’s lead in the 64th minute. Towards the end when the Chennai City FC dugout started eyeing to a hard-fought draw, super-sub Ronald Singh stole the show completely having scored the winner in the added time.

AIFF PRESS RELEASE : Aizawl FC players and their fans had a perfect outing today as the Reds garnered full three points in their first home match of the ongoing Hero I-League 2017-18 season. Defending champions Aizawl FC got the better of Churchill Brothers FC Goa 1-0, thanks to the late strike by the forward Yugo Kobayashi. Although the Aizawl FC fans had to wait till the 88th minute for the goal, the game provided enough of nervy and heart pumping moments to them.

William Lalnunfela, who scored a brace for Aizawl against East Bengal was the notable absentee against Churchill Brothers. Shylo Malsawmtluanga, the most experienced player in the squad again had to sit out today meaning he will have to wait longer to make his debut for Aizawl FC in I-League.

Churchill coach Shevchenko made three changes to his playing XI that faced Mohun Bagan in their previous match. Suraj and Israil Gurung took the field as Karthik Govindswamy and Emuejeraye Precious failed to retain their place in the starting line-ups.

After the hour-mark, the home side upped the tempo of the game and created several good chances but Yugo Kobayashi could not convert the chances that fell on his path. Just when Churchill thought they deserved a point from the game Kobayashi scored the only goal of the game in the 88th minute. Having calmly tucked in Dodoz’s pass calmly, the shrewd forward slotted the solitary goal of the match. Towards the end of the game, six additional minutes fell short for Churchill Brothers who are still left empty-handed after three straight losses in the ongoing season.
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11.12.2017: MINERVA PUNJAB 2-1 CHENNAI CITY (FT.) CNC : Jean Michael Joachim 4' MPF : William Opoku 48', Kassim Aidara 60'. MOM : Kassim Aidara - Minerva

Minerva Punjab came from behind to beat Chennai City 2-1 at the Guru Nanak Dev Stadium in Ludhiana, Punjab tonight. Having conceded an early goal in the fourth minute by Joachim of Chennai City FC, Minerva Punjab FC struck twice in the second half as William Asiedu (48′) and skipper Kassim Aidara (59′) found the back of the net to steal all three points.

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The first half ended at 0-1 in favour of Chennai City. Minerva, on the other hand, were lacking inspiration of any sort. The rain and cold weather was making things even more difficult.

As soon as the second half began you could sense that Minerva Punjab was up for something. They were rewarded with this change of attitude in the 48th minute when William struck from 10 yards out from the rebound to equalize the game.

11 minutes later Minerva took the lead in 59th minute through Kassim’s diving header. He dived to full length ahead of his marker to head the ball inside the 6-yard box giving no chance to the keeper. Chennai head coach made three quick substitutions in order to turn things around but Minerva Punjab restrained the pressure to come out on top once again.
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09.12.2017: Gokulam FC 0-3 Neroca FC (FT.) NFC: Felix Chidi 24', Pritam SIngh 43', N. Ronald 90+6'. MOM : Nikhil Bernard-NEROCA.
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AIFF PRESS RELEASE : Two first-half goals from Felix Chidi (23′), Pritam Singh (43′) and a sublime header from Ronald Singh (90’+4′) in the injury time summed up a pristine 3-0 win for Neroca FC to open their account in the ongoing Hero I-League 2017-18 overcoming Gokulam Kerala FC who are now left winless in their first three fixtures in their debut season.
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Bino Geroge’s boys almost snatched an early lead within seconds of kick-off but the assistant referee flagged it offside to provide some respite to Gift Raikhan and his boys. Gokulam Kerala FC striker Mbele poked his first goal of the Hero I-League 2017-18 in the 17th second of the match but their joy was cut short by the official.

On a counter attack, Neroca FC found the leak in the Gokulam Kerala FC defence but Mohamed Salah charged at the last moment to keep the scoreline unchanged. After the early drama in either half of the pitch, the pace of the game mellowed down a bit which was brilliantly utilised by the visitors when they took the lead in the 23rd minute.

Tondomba put in a long ball directed to the Nigerian striker who did no mistake going past Pravat Lakra to tap it home eventually to silent the 8000-odd home crowd. Meanwhile, it was the Nigerian striker’s second goal in as many games.
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Following the goal, the visitors continued to push the hosts to double the lead but the yellow outfit somehow contained the Manipuri attacks until the 43rd minute when Pritam Singh headed their second goal to Gokulam Kerala FC’s dismay in the presence of the owner Shri Gokulam Gopalan.

Subash Singh outran the defender down the left flank and unleashed a juicy cross inside the 6-yard box which was brilliantly converted by Pritam Singh to leave Mohamed Salah and Provat Lakra completely perplexed. Neroca FC went to the dressing room with a 2-0 lead over the hosts at the half-time.

Bino George rang a couple of changes after the changeover in their pursuit of the elusive goal when Shinu S and Meitie were introduced at the expense of Mohamed Salah and Gulom Urunov respectively. As Shinu S was deployed at the heart of the defence, Provat Lakra pushed himself to the left wing to add more vigour to the attacking third but Neroca FC handled that without much fuss.

Irshad put in a low cross for Mbele in the 63rd minute but Aussie defender Aryn Williams went for a last-minute tackle to maintain the clean sheet. Bino Geroge introduced the fresh pair of legs in terms of Usman Ashik sixteen minutes to the final whistle who threatened the visitors time and again but they couldn’t breach the Neroca FC defence until the final whistle.

Super-sub Ronald Singh who replaced Subash Singh five minutes to the final whistle headed the final nail in Gokulam Kerala FC coffin at the added time to add more woes to Nikhil Barnard who was adjudged the Hero of the Match against Chennai City FC in their last home fixture.

With the win, Neroca FC propel to the fourth position in the table with 3 points from 2 matches whereas the Kerala-based side goes down to the ninth spot with a solitary point from 3 matches. Neroca FC will go back to their backyard to host Chennai City FC in the first-ever Hero I-League match played at the Manipuri soil on December 15, 2017 while Gokulam Kerala FC will face Indian Arrows on December 22, 2017.

AIFF PRESS RELEASE : Minerva Punjab FC kept their unbeaten run intact as they downed high-flying Indian Arrows 2-0 in their I-league encounter at the Bambolim Stadium in Goa on Tuesday. A wonder-goal early in the game (7′) and a late goal (84′) from William Opoku helped Minerva go straight to the top of the table.
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Going into the game, Indian Arrows coach Luis Norton de Matos made two changes from the last game with Abhijit Sarkar and Deepak Tangri replacing Jeakson Singh and Anwar Ali.

As for Minerva Punjab, Rakshit Dagar replaced injured goalkeeper Arshdeep Singh along with Kamalpreet Singh and William Opoku Asiedu who came in place of Deepak Devrani and Gagandeep Singh respectively.

Before the home side could even settle down, Minerva made their intentions clear thanks to a wonder goal from Ghanaian William Opoku in the 7th minute. The goal originated from a throw-in down the left. A long throw from Sukhdev Singh into the box was met with a weak clearance from Arrows right-back Boris Singh as it fell kindly to Girik Khosla.

With no one closing him down outside the box, Khosla laid it down for William Opoku who unleashed a rocket of a shot from nearly 40 yards out. Arrows keeper Dheeraj Singh could do nothing as the ball drilled into the net past his outstretched right hand.

Meanwhile, the Minerva defence didn’t give the Arrows attackers a sniff at goal but Arrows were slowly growing into the game.

And the first telling goal-scoring opportunity for Arrows saw striker Edmund Lalrindika releasing Abhijit Sarkar with a perfectly weighted ball. Sarkar tried a first-time shot but it lacked power or precision as it bounced slowly into the arms of Rakshit Dagar. It was the only noteworthy chance for the Arrows who were otherwise subdued.

At half-time, William’s wonder-goal separated the two sides. Minerva started the second half in the way they started the first by putting Arrows under pressure.

But Arrows regrouped and they started going forward. And they had an opportunity when Minerva conceded an indirect free-kick when Sukhdev Singh lobbed a ball back to the goalkeeper who collected it with his hands down the left channel close to the touchline.

Stalin slipped a pass into the centre to Sarkar whose steered shot was easily collected by Rakshit in the 69th minute. Edmund was a livewire and created two excellent goal-scoring opportunities. One cross from the left and then from the right missed Rahul and Sarkar respectively.

Minerva Punjab should have been 2-0 up when a misunderstanding between Dheeraj and Deepak saw Opoku pounce on it as he rounded Deepak and tried to shoot into an open goal after Dheeraj couldn’t make his way back to goal.

But to Opoku’s dismay, the ball hit the post before the danger was cleared. But the Arrows could do nothing when Opoku showed his predatory skills when Checho found Opoku in the six-yard box and the Ghanaian scored his second of the night.

Opoku walked away with the Hero of the match award and Minerva with three points. Following the win, Minerva Punjab FC grabbed the pole position once again with 7 points from 3 matches. The Punjab-based side will come back to their home to take on Chennai City FC on December 11 whereas Indian Arrows will make their trip to Punjab for the return leg of today’s game on December 18.
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GKFC found the lead in the 21st minute through former Aizawl FC striker Bayi Kamo but CCFC were able to equalize minutes later to end the match in a spirited draw that saw a huge turnout of 25,841 spectators.

The match lived up to the expectations of the huge crowd as both teams played an attacking football. Though the visitors had most of the possession, Gokulam were able to play their attacking game with ease and if it was not their profligacy in front of the goal, they could have snatched the victory.

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Joachim almost scored in the third minute but GKFC goalie Nikhil Barnard, who was adjudged as the Hero of the Match later, saved his team from an early ignominy. GKFC winger Vicky Meitei had the home side's first chance but Chennai defender Henry Monsang Tesong came up to the rescue with a goal-line clearance.

Soosai Raj wasted another chance after he surged past the defenders, collecting a pass from midfield, but his shot missed the target when he had only goalie to beat. Soon after GKFC found the opener as Kamo received a long pass from Sushanth and buried it nicely after dribbling past a Chennai defender and goalie.

Chennai regained their lost moment after the goal and started to attack GKFC relentlessly. Nikhil produced a double save off Joachim and Soosai Raj but his efforts did not pay off as they equalized minutes later. CCFC found the equalizer through a corner taken by Edwin Sydney as he swung it over GKFC defence and Joachim scored from a header.

GKFC coach Bino George was forced to substitute Mbele at the stroke of the first half due to injury. The injury was a setback as they lost an important player and this was evident in GKFC's second-half display. They had their chances in the second half but their efforts went in vain as the GKFC forwards wasted several of them to end the match in a draw.
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02.12.2017 : Shillong Lajong 2-0 Churchill Brothers (FT) SLFC : Redeem Tlang 29', Kynshi 72' MOM: Hardy Nongroby- SHILLONG LAJONG
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AIFF PRESS RELEASE : Redeem Tlang (28′) and Samuel J Lyngdoh Kynshi (72′) struck in either half of the match to give Lajong a 2-0 victory over Churchill Brothers in their second Hero I-League home fixture this season. Lajong leapfrog Minerva Punjab FC to grab the pole position having bagged all possible 6 points from 2 matches.

Both teams started playing offensive football in the first half of the match attempting to score but the match took a rough turn for Churchill Brothers in the 28th minute when Redeem Talang of Lajong struck the target. After the first goal, Lajong felt more comfortable with their situation in the game whereas, Churchill tried their best to come back but were not able to do so.
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There was one yellow card for Lajong in the first half being shown to Daniel Odafin. The second yellow card was shown to Karthik Govindswamy of Churchill Brothers. On the resumption, Churchill Brothers shited the gear in their pursuit of the elusive equaliser.

Compared to the first half, the second half was more energetic and competitive. As contrary to the first half, Lajong were defensive in the first few minutes of the second half, preferred to secure their lead safely.
In the second half, Samuel J Lyngdoh Kynshi, came off the bench into the game, replacing Abdoulaye Koffi to score the second goal for Lajong in the 72nd minute, thus giving them the upper hand over Churchill Brothers and killing off any hope of coming back into the match.

Churchill Brothers still fought on and launched themselves into an offensive trying desperately to get back into the game, but were unable to do so. In the 82nd minute, Lajong’s Novin Gurung received a yellow card. Four minutes were added at the end of the second half which only delayed the inevitable.

Hardy Cliff Nongbri of Shillong Lajong FC was awarded the Hero Of The Match for his outstanding performance. Lajong will travel to Kolkata to lock their horns with Kingfisher East Bengal on December 9 while Churchill will contest against the Mariners next day.

AIFF PRESS RELEASE :Indian Arrows registered a headline-grabbing victory over Chennai City FC with a 3-0 win in their I-League encounter at the GMC Bambolim Athletic stadium on Wednesday.
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A brace from Aniket Jadhav (20′, 58′) and a 90th-minute goal from Boris Singh set the tone for a resounding victory for the youngsters to stun Chennai City FC in their Hero I-League 2017-18 curtain raiser. After a slow start, Arrows slowly switched into their attacking gears and came close in the 13th minute.

The move came down the left channel which saw Edmund Lalrindika clipping the ball into the box for the onrushing Suresh Singh but the midfielder couldn’t connect with it.

Chennai City had a few opportunities of their own. One such move saw Jean Michael Joachim work his way into the penalty box only to balloon his shot over the bar.

But the Arrows stunned Chennai City in the 20th minute. After passing the ball out from the defence, right-back Boris Singh threaded a defence-scathing pass to Rahul KP who was operating on the right flank.

Rahul aimed a cross into the box and Aniket Jadhav got on the end of the cross just outside the box. The forward made space for himself with a touch and curled a pile-driver into the far corner.

After falling behind, Chennai City tried to get back into the game but they were let down by poor finishing especially by Joachim and Lucky Kelechukwa.

Arrows striker Edmund was brilliant up front and nearly scored on two occasions. The forward saw one lobbed shot miss the far corner by inches and a swerving shot from outside the box hit the post.

The defensive organisation of the Indian Arrows was evident as they kept their shape and goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh hardly had any saves to make. Chennai City’s best chances came through set-pieces but poor finishing kept letting them down.

The score at half-time was 1-0 in favour of the Indian Arrows.

After the changeover, Arrows stunned Chennai again as they doubled their advantage in the 58th minute. Edmund raced down the byline and dragged the defenders and goalkeeper out before poking the ball into the box.

With an open goal in front of him, Aniket raced towards the ball and steered the ball into the net to score his second of the game. Eight minutes later, Chennai substitute Gurpreet Singh hit the crossbar from a free-kick and Chennai City had a few half chances.

As the game was winding down, Boris Singh piled the misery on a jaded Chennai City with a 90th-minute goal as he strolled into the box and steered the ball.It was game set and match for the Indian Arrows Colts and Aniket Jadhav was adjudged as the Hero of the Match

AIFF PRESS RELEASE : The Second match of the Hero I-League 2017-18 season started to The local tunes of Shillong, the match proceeded with Lajong playing offensive with a formation of 4-3-2-1 and Gokulam played rather defensive with a formation of 4-3-3. Eventually, the hosts garnered all three points in their season opener, all thanks to the 76th-minute goal by Alen Deory.
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The first half was very interesting, rather electrifying. Both teams played their parts brilliantly with Lajong playing offensive and Gokulam playing defensive. The ball possession was not constant to any team and both teams were able to snatch the ball from each other making the ball juggle from one goalpost to the other.

There were a lot of attempts taken by both the sides but all of them were unable to penetrate into the goal. Either the ball was deflected by the goalkeeper or was overshot beyond the post. The two most important attempts taken in the first half were both by Samuel Lalmuanpuia, captain of Shillong Lajong.

At the end of the first half, two minutes extra time was given for either of the teams to play their magic. Unfortunately enough for both the teams, no goals were scored in the first half. The crowd of Shillong were rather disappointed at this goal-less first half.

The second half of the game was rather rougher than the first half. Although no serious fouls were committed, still the players were seen stumbling upon each other and the tackling was fierce. In this half of the game, Lajong had more ball possession, near about 60 percent.

There was one substitution each for Lajong as well as for Gokulam. In case of Lajong, Kynsailang Khongsit was called out of the game to be substituted by Samuel J Lyngdoh Kynshi. In case of Gokulam, Usman Ashik replaced Arif Shaikh.

The game was going well for Gokulam until the 76th minute when Alen Deory scored a header into the goal, assisted by the skipper Samuel Lalmuanpuia. It was a long free-kick taken by Samuel and Alen poked in a brilliant header to breach the resilient Gokulam defence.

After the goal, Gokulam went all guns blazing to score an equaliser but were unable to do so. Four minutes of extra time were given to the match and Gokulam tried to score but succumbed to Lajong’s defences.

Alen Deory went on to be the Hero of the match. In front of a strong home support, Lajong set off their Hero I-League journey with a clinical three-pointer.